LOTO locals in Vegas recall scenes after mass shooting

Monday

Oct 2, 2017 at 3:16 PMOct 2, 2017 at 3:22 PM

Two lake-area residents were in Las Vegas -- though several blocks away -- when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock unleashed a torrent of bullets in the killing of at least 58 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival near the Mandalay Bay Resort Sunday night.

Dan Field DField@lakemediaonline.com

Two lake-area residents were in Las Vegas -- though several blocks away -- when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock unleashed a torrent of bullets in the killing of at least 58 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival near the Mandalay Bay Resort Sunday night.

More than 500 people were wounded, according to reporting by the Associated Press. It is the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Janine Bullock, owner of Janine's Flowers in Camdenton, and Lori Hess, an account rep. with Lake Media, were attending the Wedding Pro Convention at the SpringHill Suites Las Vegas Convention Center when Paddock used as many as 10 weapons to mow down the victims from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Mandalay Bay Resort is near the Las Vegas Blvd. and Bali Hai Golf Club; the SpringHill Marriott is about seven miles northeast of where the shooting took place.

Bullock and Hess say they weren't aware of the massacre until their phones began to ring early in the morning hours as friends and family members checked on their safety. As they turned on television and began to piece together the situation, they learned of an immediate callout for blood donors.

They were able to secure a taxi to University Medical Center where they were among the first to give blood. It was Bullock's first time to give blood because of previous health issues, but she said she didn't hesitate and was humbled that she was able to help in such a horrific situation.

"It was amazing to see the different types of kindness from complete strangers," she said. "People were bringing food and water. A mom brought her kids with cupcakes and water. What a great lesson to teach her children. One young man who had worked at his job all night stopped to give blood. A 74-year-old veteran using a cane showed up to give blood."

By the time they left, a long line had formed.

A young girl who had gone to the University Medical Center to give blood witnessed much of the carnage and was visibly traumatized.

Everyone became friends at a desperate time, Bullock noted. She and Hess befriended a woman from New Jersey while waiting to give blood, and learned the woman was originally from St. Louis.

Mara McMahon, the New Jersey woman, was staying at the Mandalay representing her company at a different conference. While she wasn't an immediate witness to the shooting, she was staying on the 38th floor in a different wing of the hotel and wasn't aware of the situation until her phone began to ring about 5 a.m. as her family was checking on her safety. The shooter was on the 32nd floor.

In a moment of fate, divine intervention or just plain luck, McMahon decided at the last minute not to attend the Harvest Festival.

"It was just one of those things. I have no real explanation why I decided not to go," McMahon offered. "I was a little tired after a day of meetings, but thought maybe I'd go. But for some reason, I didn't. I'm just really grateful for whatever reasons I decided not to go."

As she learned details of what had happened, she also learned of the need for blood. She left her room before 7 a.m. to find where to give, and saw people sleeping on the floor, in the chairs and even in the stairwells because of a complete lockdown of the building.

She, too, was told that if she left the hotel she wouldn't be allowed to return. She asked a nearby police officer where to give blood, and she was directed to the hospital where she met Bullock and Hess.

A co-worker of hers was having an evening cocktail at the hotel bar when the shooting began. As a SWAT team arrived, those in the bar area were ordered to lie down and were searched one by one. After each was secured, they were told to leave the property and find refuge someplace else.

The Mandalay Bay Resort went on immediate lockdown because of the shooting, and many residents of the hotel not in their room at the time of the evening shootings -- or who left their rooms for whatever reasons -- were forced to find sleep and shelter from the elements in other hotels.

Bullock said even their hotel lobby was scattered with temporarily displaced individuals from their rooms at the Mandalay.

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